A Little Behind

This pregnancy has been completely different than with Ella. Not in a bad way, but different. I didn't really feel pregnant with her. And I definitely do this time!

Anyway, as you can see on my ticker, I am 33 weeks, almost 34 weeks along. Yay! Only a little over 6 weeks left! It has gone by so fast. Yikes. Six weeks and I don't feel even close to being ready. I did get out Ella's old carseat, swing, and pack and play and clean them up. And I washed the clothes my sister gave me. But that's it. Unfortunately, there's not really anything else I can do. Ella is still in the crib, so that's already set up.We will be getting her a twin size bed soon. Hopefully we'll be able to with our tax returns. But we're hoping and praying we'll even have enough for a rental deposit. We're planning to move in April.

Back to the point of the post. I have a problem, and I think it stems from time going by so fast. And a little something called "pregnancy brain". And old age. I'm turning 26 in less than a month. Yikes! But that's a whole other post! Okay, so it's not really a problem, but I think it's rather amusing. I cannot keep it in my head exactly how far along I am! I did not have this problem with Ella. If somebody asked me how far along I was, I would be able to spit it out immediately. However, now, if somebody asks me, I give an answer starting with "umm", followed by silence because I'm thinking, and then finally saying, "I think I'm about ___ weeks but I'm actually not exactly sure." Sad, huh. I usually get it within a couple weeks, though.

Recently, I have been trying to keep track better. I have been doing okay, but now I find myself thinking that I am a week behind what I really am. At 31 weeks, I thought I was 30 weeks. Last week, I thought I finally had it down. And I did. I was 32 weeks, and I knew it. Something went wrong. My brain forgot to change weeks on Thursday and I kept thinking I was 32 weeks all weekend. I got a nice surprise this morning when I saw my ticker. That's the upside to my problem.

Sorry about my rambling! I always do that, but that's how I am when I write. I think I learned it in college. This was actually supposed to be a short post. Oops!

Christmas!

It's a little late, but oh well!

We had a great Christmas this year. It was so fun watching Ella open her gifts and getting excited about what was inside. She loved all the new toys and clothes she got, but her most favorite toy is her baby doll. She is either holding it, asking for it, or sleeping with it. She loves her 'babies' (that's what she calls it) so much, she feeds it, tries to wrap it up in its blanket (we usually do this for her), and just treats it like a real baby. If this is any indication, she will be a great big sister!

She also got a pop-up toy she has already mastered, My Pal Scout, a MagnaDoodle, clothes, and a Little People set from us/Santa. She got puzzles from my parents, and my sister also got her puzzles not knowing my parents did! She loves trying to fit the pieces in! She hasn't quite gotten it, but with a little practice, she will get it soon enough. Her Grandma and Grandpa Newman got her an adorable little red dress. She looks so cute in it! From the Newman family's gift exchange on Christmas Eve, she got a little puppy pull-toy and a cute little tutu! I would have to say Ella made out like a bandit!

Craig and I also exchanged gifts with each other. Mostly things we needed, but also some fun stuff.

We had a great time with both our families on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We are so lucky to have almost all our family living so close to us.

Her Christmas Dress

Opening her first present

Trying on her new clothes

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Opening her Magna Doodle

Playing with her Magna Doodle

Sorry it's dark, but she's holding her baby

Our Baby Boy

I had an appointment this morning for my 28-week ultrasound. I'm usually very excited for ultrasound appointments, but I was a bit nervous this time. I knew the baby would be fine and in perfect condition, because he lets himself be known constantly. But I was nervous because on Friday I had my glucose tolerance test and whatever other blood work they do along with it. I knew I probably didn't have gestational diabetes, but, you never know. It can come out of nowhere.

The actual ultrasound went very well, except, now I will have two kids that do things on their own terms! I'm a bit nervous for when he's born. He's very active and very stubborn. He was not very cooperative with the U/S Tech. He was facing my back and would not turn around for her so she could get some good face shots. She got some, but I had to lay on my side. At one point, he turned away as we were looking at his face! Little stinker! Other than that, everything is perfect! And oh yeah! I do not have gestational diabetes. That's a relief.

Here is a picture of our cute little guy!

Half Birthday!

Yesterday, Ella turned 18 months old! And she will be going into nursery on Sunday. Craig and I can't wait. She's a little hard to control in Sunday School and Relief Society/Elder's Quorum these days. She's been ready for nursery for about three months, but we like to follow rules and waited.

She had her 18-month well-check this morning and it was the best doctor's appointment she's had in a while. She's always had some weight issues since she was born, and has been up and down (mostly down) in her percentiles. She has just never been a big eater and is very active. She was born in about the 20-25th percentile, and last appointment (15 months old) she was in the 5th weighing in at 19lbs 1oz. Her height has always been around the 50th percentile, so she's growing just fine.

Well, this little girl has done a lot of growing in the last three months! She weighed in at 20lbs 13oz. Yay! She's gained almost 2 pounds! And she went up to the 7th percentile! That makes me very happy. Now, here's the shocker (at least for me, sort of). She grew an inch and a half. So now she's 32 inches tall and in the 60th percentile! I knew she had a big growth spurt recently, but I didn't think it was that big!

She's developing right on track, not behind on anything. In fact, she's actually ahead in her verbal development. At this age, her doctor said she should know between 8 and 16? words. I don't remember the last number. But she knows way more than that. I can't even guess how many she knows. And he also said by age two, she should know some two-word phrases. Well, she already does that!

Ella is such a little sweetheart, and we are very blessed to have such a good girl. Even though she does have her moments and tantrums. But that's to be expected for a one year old. She loves to dance, and she's very good at it! I will have to post a video of her dancing some time. She also loves babies and kids. I can tell she will be a wonderful and loving big sister. And bossy, too. She even tries to boss around our dog and cat!

This is probably the most exciting, yet sad time so far in her life for me. It's exciting to be able to converse with her and watch her become more and more independent. But it's hard to realize she's not a little baby anymore. She won't let us just hold and cuddle her anymore. It's sad, but I'm glad she is growing up so well!

Cookie...C!

This is Ella's favorite song. She loves to watch the video and she loves for me or Craig to sing it to her. She has also been trying to sing it herself! She says, "Cookie...C!" She say stuff in the middle, but it's just babbling.

This morning, she kept asking me to sing it for her. She came up to me, started dancing, and saying, "Cookie!" over and over until I sang it for her. It was so cute. However, she did this over, and over, and over. The count is now well over 30 times of me singing it to her.

Well now...

That was easier than I thought! Ella is now officially pacifier free! The day I wrote about having to wean her off the pacifier, I decided to try it again. She cried a bit at first, but she calmed down within ten minutes. That night, I was just too tired to deal with crying, so I just gave the pacifier to her.

The next day, I decided to also eliminate her morning nap. It was only an hour long anyway, and she was getting to where she wasn't really sleeping during her afternoon nap. I figured that it was time, and maybe, just maybe, she'd be tired enough to not think about her pacifier. Well, she asked for it, but didn't even cry! And, she went right to sleep! That night, she did the same thing. But, I wasn't holding my breath. I figured she was jut really tired.

Friday, everything went perfectly, and the same so far today! Yay! The funny thing is that now she doesn't have her pacifier, she has become much more attached to her bunny (BunBun). She has been carrying it all around, and asks for that to snuggle with while she sleeps. It is so cute! When I give it to her, she gets this big smile on her face and giggles. Then she hugs BunBun like she hasn't seen it for a very long time.

I am so relieved this is all over and very grateful that it was so easy!

Busy Little Bee

This is how I found Ella this morning when I went in to get her up. That is a long-sleeved (with two sleeves) shirt she's wearing. Apparently she only wanted one sleeve! Silly girl! Her hair is up because she's been teething/sick for a week, and I don't want her hair plastered to her face with snot in the morning. It happened Friday morning and was not fun to clean up!

And yes, she still has the bumper in her crib even though it should have been gone months ago. She doesn't even try to climb out and when I have taken it off, she doesn't sleep because she's either hitting her head and making her cry, or losing her pacifier through the slats and making her cry. The bumper will go when the pacifier goes.

Some time in the next week, we will be working on weaning her off the pacifier. Oh joy. She turns 18 months old a week from today, and that is the deadline I set. Now I just have to gather up the strength to do it. I tried at nap time on Monday, but she cried so hard, I gave in. I hate giving in.

I'm hoping it won't be too terribly difficult because she's not very attached to it. She only really wants/needs it when she goes to sleep. She doesn't use it when she's awake, except every once in a while when she sees it lying around or we give it to her at church to keep her quiet. Sometimes I feel I'm more dependent on it than her! It also kind of makes me sad because it means my baby is growing up! Very bittersweet.